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by Bill O’Donnell
NSP5 is history. It was held from July 18th through 25th at Merritt Reservoir just south of Valentine Nebraska. This has always been a time of great excitement for me. I love the dark, crystal clear skies that I have experienced in the past. I cherish the friendships made over the years of attending this star party. I relish all of the observing tips and guidance I have received from more experienced observers. I even one a great door prize a few years back, a 17mm TeleVue Plossel eyepiece. It also a really neat experience to work on the planning committee for the star party and watch as it all falls together, seemingly without effort. It is great to hear the positive remarks from attendees, and it is often enlightening to hear the negative comments as well. It helps NSP become a truly great star party. ( I noticed it was listed among the top 19 star parties in this months Astronomy Magazine)
This years event was also enjoyable for nearly all of the same reasons. My wife, Judy, and I had a lot of time to spend with other observers. We enjoyed looking at everyone’s scopes and innovations. I was only 10 numbers away from a really great door prize. I enjoyed working as a member of the staff, and even found a way around wearing one of the “red hats” that staff are asked to wear to help others identify them. The picnic on Wednesday was the highlight of our trip there this year. It was a great time, with Clark Cheney, John Johnson and myself as the resident cooks. Normally, I would say that the viewing and the dark skies were the best part, but I only saw them for about 45 minutes on Wednesday evening, when the clouds broke for a short while. (Thanks Deb, for the shared use of your scope, without it, I might not have done any observing, since it would have clouded up by the time I set mine up). For the most part, the night skies were clouded out. I heard people talking about viewing Sunday and Monday nights, (with daytime temps breaking 100) but we arrived on Tuesday. Of course, the weather is something that we can have no control over. You just have to make the best of it. And we did. We visited with many new attendees, and made some new friends. We ate very well, and generally had a good time. I think that every one in the camp heard Judy and Lori May laughing like kids on Thursday night. We spent that day with friends at Smith Falls, since the Niobrara trip was rained out. (There were a few who braved it, but I thought that lightning, water and aluminum canoes were just not the best way to have fun)
One of the greatest highlights at NSP5 was Brenda Culbertson’s Observer’s Field School. It was offered, free of charge, for those interested. Though it was aimed at the beginner, it had much to offer astronomers at all levels of expertise. She taught everything from observing etiquette to astrophotography. Her classes were both well attended and much appreciated. She set up mentoring sessions pairing more experienced observers with novices. What a great thing to have at a star party! It helped to raise the standard for all future star parties.
All-in-all, it was a pretty good vacation. I’ll do it again next year. El Nino may have had some affect on the weather, La Nina should have the opposite! Anyway, that’s the chance you take with any vacation, and that is what this was, an astronomy vacation. Judy thought of a great slogan for NSP6: “Rain or Shine....Come To Valentine”. Next years event is scheduled for August 7-14 (1999). You can see some of the preliminaries at: http://www.4w.com/nsp See you there!